Conventionally, as a wrapping material for a food product and other products, or an adhesive material, a polymer produced by incorporating a hydrophilic monomer with a hydrophobic α-olefin polymer has been used. For example, an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) produced by copolymerizing vinyl acetate and ethylene followed by hydrolysis is known. The copolymer is rich in hydrophilicity and biodegradability.
However, such a polymer is produced by the random polymerization of an α-olefin and vinyl alcohol, and thus the one produced by the alternating copolymerization of an α-olefin and vinyl alcohol with a precise ratio of 1:1 has not been derived until now.